The Great Trickster[]

The Adversary was an ancient demonic entity that sought to destroy the universe so he could recreate as he wished. He originated from a dimension of chaos, which he wished to spread to the universe, overturning order simply because he wished to. He saw himself as a gamester, as he toyed with the fate of the cosmos out of sheer enjoyment. The Cheyenne came to learn of the Adversary and seeing how he used deception and trickery to achieve his goals they referred to him as the Great Trickster.

The Adversary was dissatisfied with the overall pattern of what he had made and unconcerned with the fate of individual threads, sought to reweave it again until he would be pleased, not caring how many billions of sentient beings would die in the process. As the Cheyenne believed that all things were composed of energy; the Adversary wished to burn all of that energy completely to destroy the universe.^[3]

Forge[]

The Cheyenne Indians had long known of the existence of the Adversary, and their shaman, Naze, himself clashed with the evil god. Naze trained the mutant known as Forge from birth to combat the Adversary. However, Forge rejected the life of a shaman and instead enlisted in the United States army and went to fight in the Vietnam War. During the war, Forge's own command was wiped out by enemy soldiers. Anguished and enraged by the deaths of his men, Forge used the spirits of nine of his men to cast a spell that opened a mystical portal into the Adversary's dimension, through which came demons that slew the enemy soldiers.^[2]

Years later, Forge became an inventor working for the United States government. Alien Dire Wraiths invaded his headquarters at Eagle Plaza in Dallas, Texas since he was working on weaponry to be used against them. Naze and various members and allies of the X-Men, including Storm, joined with Forge in battling the Wraiths. In the course of this Wraith attack, Naze was killed and his form was duplicated by one of the Wraiths. That Wraith, in turn, fell under the mystical possession of the Adversary.^[7]

Many months later, the X-Man Storm, whose superhuman powers had been suppressed by one of Forge's inventions, went to Eagle Plaza to ask Forge to restore her powers. Forge was not there, but she instead encountered the Adversary, whom she believed to be Naze. The false Naze convinced Storm that Forge had fallen under the influence of the Adversary and was attempting to destroy the Earth. "Naze" and Storm went to the mountain in the Western United States that was the "heart of his magic". The false Naze had Storm go up the mountain to stop Forge, claiming that he could not go himself since Forge had set up mystical alarms and defenses against him (Indeed, Forge had no doubt sent up such alarms and defenses, not against Naze but against the Adversary himself.) Storm fought off the demons that attacked her and then stabbed Forge, only to learn that he was actually attempting to close the dimensional gateway through which the demons were coming. In attempting to escape the demons, Forge and Storm both fell through the gateway and were transported to the Earth of a parallel dimension, on which apparently no other human beings existed. Thus the Adversary had rid himself of the two people he regarded as the only real threat to his plans to destroy and remake the universe. He offered them the chance to become the "world spirits" of the new Earth he planned to create and to be the parents of its new human race.^[8]

The Adversary had by now captured Roma, the goddess who acted as the guardian and caretaker of the known dimensions, and held her prisoner within her own Starlight Citadel. Forge restored Storm's ability to use her superhuman powers, and they escaped the world to which they had both been exiled, only to become prisoners of the Adversary in the Starlight Citadel.^[9]

On Forge's native Earth, the Adversary had jumbled elements of many different time periods at Eagle Plaza. The X-Men fought against the resulting chaos while their actions were televised across the world by reporter Neal Conan. The X-Men, their friend Madelyne Pryor, and Conan were all transported to another dimension, where they invaded the Starlight Citadel. Forge and Storm regained their freedom as the X-Men fought and distracted, the Adversary, who now abandoned Naze's form and revealed his true appearance. The X-Men and Pryor willingly agreed to sacrifice their lives so that Forge could cast the spell needed to close the Great Gate and defeat the Adversary. In casting the spell Forge transformed the X-Men and Pryor into beings of pure energy, which Forge gathered together and hurled at the Adversary, forcing him through a mystical portal which sealed shut behind him. According to Forge, the deaths of the X-Men and Pryor had assured that the Adversary would be sealed away for all time. Forge and Neal Conan then returned to Eagle Plaza on Earth. Conan's telecast of the X-Men's battle against the Adversary and their deaths were seen by viewers all over the world.

However, Roma then used her great powers to return the X-Men and Madelyne Pryor to life. Roma explained that the Adversary must not be thus confined forever since, through the chaos he brings, his power could become positive change and growth. However, she said, the Adversary had indeed been "bound for an age" by Forge's spell.^[10]

Haven[]

In a subsequent turn of events, the Adversary re-entered the Earth realm, propelled by the misguided machinations of the nefarious villain known as Haven. Upon his arrival, the Adversary swiftly dispatched Haven, his malevolent collaborator, only to face another formidable adversary in the form of Forge. This time, Forge had risen to the occasion, harnessing his ancestral mystic legacy with newfound determination. Leading the government-endorsed mutant ensemble, X-Factor, Forge marshalled his enhanced powers to confront the Adversary once more, emerging triumphant in a battle that tested the very fabric of reality.^[11][12][13]

Return[]

Later, the Adversary returned to our dimension due to the misguided antics of the villain called Haven. The Adversary killed Haven upon his return but was once again defeated by Forge, who was at that time leading the government-sponsored mutant team X-Factor, after Forge reclaimed his mystic heritage.^[14]

Navid Hassan[]

Navid Hassan became apprentice of the Sphinx.^[15] When the Sphinx awakened Navid's power, he became possessed by the Adversary, the Sphinx's benefactor.^[16] After helping the Sphinx retrieve numerous Egyptian artifacts from the San Francisco Museum of Egyptian Culture,^[17] Navid and his mentor targeted the Grandview Museum in Manhattan, where the Mask of Amenhotep was being displayed in an exhibition. Navid was confronted by his sister, who had become a member of the Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D.. During the ensuing fight against the Howling Commandos, the Adversary revealed that he had possessed Navid and started to mutate the boy's body to his image. Using the Mask of Amenhotep, the Commandos cast the Adversary away, forcing him to leave Navid's body, and disintegrating it in the process.^[16]

Black Panther[]

The Adversary returned and adopted the moniker of the Sefako, Twice-Risen God. He ventured to the realm of Wakanda, where he was venerated as a deity in the Kinamasi Region. He unleashed the long forgotten Originators to spread chaos across the nation, and defeated Shuri who was empowered by the Griot. He was then confronted by the Black Panther and Storm who brought an end to his reign by sending him back to his dimension through a portal opened by Zawavari.^[18]

Riverwalker[]

Upon the death of Riverwalker's parents, the Adversary seized the opportunity presented by the young boy's vulnerability. It latched onto him, an insidious shadow haunting his every step, whispering promises of power and retribution in exchange for servitude. Riverwalker, burdened by grief and longing for solace, unwittingly struck a pact with this sinister being, sealing his fate to its whims.^[19]

The Adversary, fueled by its insatiable thirst for dominance, laid out a twisted scheme that entangled the lives of both Riverwalker and Echo. The Adversary recognized Echo's significance—a threat to its machinations—and sought to erase her from existence by severing her familial lineage, thereby disrupting the delicate tapestry of destiny. Riverwalker, bound by his pact, became an unwilling pawn in the Adversary's grand design. He was tasked with delaying Echo's arrival at The Rez, the sacred ground where their paths would intersect. Each delay orchestrated by Riverwalker served to prolong the inevitable confrontation, granting the Adversary more time to enact its sinister plans. Ultimately, the Adversary's endgame revolved around capturing and harnessing the legendary Phoenix Force. By eliminating Echo and obliterating her lineage, the Adversary aimed to eradicate any obstacles to its dominance and unleash the boundless energy of the Phoenix Force for its nefarious purposes. Unfortunately for him, Echo used the White Hot Room to destroy the Adversary.^[20]

The Adversary was an evil trickster whose sole purpose, according to himself, was to completely shatter the rules of reality. He directly opposed the Omniversal Majestrix who wished to maintain order, and saw the battle between order and chaos as a cosmic game to be won by ensuring chaos remained supreme. He loved challenges and playing games, which was why he didn't directly kill those who opposed him as he took great joy in prolonging their game. He was also the primal adversary of humanity since near the beginning of time, wishing to exterminate humankind and scorch all of the Earth. He feasted on tricks, lies and deception, and had a particular attraction to noble souls which he wished to tear down. When achieving his goals and playing his sick games, the Adversary was very thorough and very careful.^[21]

The full extent of the Adversary's power was unknown, and it's unclear whether he could recreate the universe by himself. It's also not clear if the Adversary was older than the present universe, and if he had a role in the previous universe's destruction and the current one's creation. In his true form, the Adversary was not composed of physical matter but energy. He could be affected magic but was invulnerable to most forms of physical force.^[3]

• Superhuman Strength^{[citation needed]}
• Superhuman Speed^{[citation needed]}
• Superhuman Stamina^{[citation needed]}
• Near-Invulnerability^{[citation needed]}
• Seemingly unlimited magical powers^{[citation needed]}
• The Adversary seems capable of virtually any power-- including wielding massive amounts of energies. He also is adept at disguise by taking forms of others or possessing them. His true form may not yet be revealed, although he has appeared casting off disguises to reveal a demonic shadow with glowing eyes.^{[citation needed]}
• He can enter and leave different planes of existence and dimensions at will and has reality warping powers. He can also summon demons and other supernatural creatures to do his bidding.^{[citation needed]}

He is vulnerable to iron and anything from iron, hence to both steel and Adamantium.^[22]

• Adversary first appeared as Naze in Uncanny X-Men #188 and later in his true form in Uncanny X-Men #227.
• It is suggested that the Adversary, the Shadow King, Annihilation, the First Fallen, le Bete Noir, and the Goblin Force are all different aspects of the same thing.^[23] Interestingly, several of those are known oppositional entities to the Phoenix Force.

• "Adversary" is an English translation of the Hebrew śātān, usually rendered into English as Satan.